Fort Mitchell Historical Site, Alabama

From Wikipedia.

Park and archaeological site in Alabama.  Was made a National Historical Landmark in 1990.

Restoration of an 1813 stockade used during the Creek War.  Also a museum with exhibits.  There is also a restored 19th-century log home and a visitors center.

Adjacent to it is the Chattahoochee Indian Heritage Center of the Creek Nation and Removal during the Trail of Tears

This fort and center represent three distinct times of Creek-U.S. relations.  The fort was named for David Brydie Mitchell, the governor of Georgia.  The U.S. defeated the Creeks and forced them to ceded 21 million acres of land to the states of Georgia and Alabama.

During the second time, the fort served as an Indian Factory/trading post beginning in 1817.

The third phase was the Creek Removal to Oklahoma.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Mitchell (Not the One in Alabama)

From North American Forts, Georgia.

As I already said, i was somewhat confused with the location of Fort Mitchell, thinking it was near Atlanta, Georgia.  This confused me more when I found a Fort Mitchell in Georgia.

Fort Mitchell, 1813.

One of four stockade forts west of Hawkinsville on the Blackshear Trail.

Probably not the Fort Mitchell in Alabama.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Mitchell, Alabama-- Part 2: By Present-Day Fort Benning

The site of Fort Mitchell was used again as part of the defense of Columbus, Georgia, during the Civil War, although the original fort was long-gone by this time.

The original site of the fort is just outside the boundaries of present-day Fort Benning and the Fort Mitchell Veterans Administration Hospital.

The site was excavated in 1971 and a marker and modern reconstruction of the fort is located at Fort Mitchell Park.  Admission is free.

The Chattahoochee Indian Heritage Center is adjacent to  the park.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Mitchell, Alabama-- Part 1: First Creek Indian War

From North American Forts--  Alabama.

Georgia's Gen. John Floyd built this fort along the present day Georgia-Alabama state line.

FORT MITCHELL

1813, 1837 or 1840, 1865

The Georgia state militia, under gen. John Floyd, built the original fort during the First Creek War.  The Creek Indian Agency located here in 1817.  Federal troops rebuilt the fort in 1825 as a stockade with two blockhouses.

The Creek Nation was gathered here in 1836 for their forced removal to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.

--Brock-Perry

Georgia's John Floyd-- Part 3: The Battle of Autossee

General John Floyd was ordered to take command of the federal troops assembling at Camp Hope on the Ocmulgee River.  They constructed forts in a defensive line along the federal Road from the Ocmulgee River to the Alabama River.  Fort Mitchell was erected on the west bank of the Chattahoochee River.

In November 1813,  Floyd was on the offensive and fought at the Battle of Autossee on the east bank of the Talapoosa River   It was the site of one of the most populous Creek towns.

Floyd planned to attack at daybreak and encircle the town.  His scouts discovered a second town and Floyd had to divide his force.  Fighting was fierce.  Red Stick men, women and children were shot, bayoneted and burned to death in their own houses.  Both villages were completely destroyed.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 in Georgia

The Creek War 1813-1814.

The British armed and encouraged the local Indians to do battle with the United States.  The Indians were only too happy to do that as it had become evident that the Americans wanted their land and planned to take it from them.  The Creek War took place primarily in Alabama-Georgia area.

On August 30, 1813, the Creeks attacked and destroyed Fort Mims in Alabama which touched off a major U.S.-Creek confrontation.

U.S. General John Floyd was ordered to build a string  of forts in Georgia from whence to protect the state and attack the Creeks.  He did so starting in September 1813 when he attacked into Alabama from Fort Mitchell on the Chattahoochee River.

Fighting continued into 1814 when the Creeks were finally and decisively defeated  by General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.

--Brock-Perry